Diamond Receives $19.6 million Canadian Investment

Diamond Aircraft received a $19.6 million strategic, repayable investment from the Government of Canada for research and development (R&D) of its D-JET, personal light jet. The company announced it will manufacture the new all-composite, five-seat aircraft at its facility in London, Ontario, where the...

For immediate service; more information; and multi-user access (site license), non-profit organization, educational institute pricing, contact Karen Garner kgarner@accessintel.com at (301) 354-1612.

This story is only available to paid subscribers. Please login below with your username and password if you are a subscriber.

Username:
Password:
	What is my password?

Subscribe     Trial

Diamond Aircraft received a $19.6 million strategic, repayable investment from the Government of Canada for research and development (R&D) of its D-JET, personal light jet. The company announced it will manufacture the new all-composite, five-seat aircraft at its facility in London, Ontario, where the D-JET R&D program is based. The D-JET, dubbed a personal jet, has more than 300 orders and is set for certification later this year. It is powered by the Williams FJ33 turbofan engine, certified in 2004.
The Honorable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry for the Government of Canada, announced the investment during a briefing at Diamond Aircraft’s London facility. The Canadian government’s investment project will be funded from the new Strategic Aerospace Defense Initiative (SADI). SADI supports strategic industrial research and pre-competitive development (R&D) projects in the aerospace, defense, space and security (A&D) industries. SADI is managed by the Industrial Technologies Office, a special operating agency of Industry Canada with a mandate to advance leading-edge R&D by Canadian aerospace and defense industries.
“This investment will play a vital role in enabling our company to complete the final development, flight testing and certification of the D-JET, and to complete our transition to production,” said Peter Maurer, president of Diamond Aircraft Industries. “There is already tremendous demand for this new aircraft and we are excited about the opportunity to grow our already proven, world-class team and operation here in southwestern Ontario to deliver D-JET to our customers worldwide.”
The single-engine Diamond D-JET is poised to be the most attainable personal light jet, according to the company. The $95.2 million D-JET R&D program began in 2003.
Diamond’s London operation today produces its DA20 two-seat aircraft, DA40 family of four-seat piston aircraft, and the DA42 light twin turbo-diesel aircraft. Diamond employs 580 people in Canada and has pioneered the development and manufacture of aircraft using carbon fiber and related composite materials that are stronger, lighter and more durable than metals.

Production Approval in China
In separate news, Diamond received production approval for it Binzhou facility in China. Shandong Bin AO Aircraft Industries (SBAAI), Diamond Aircraft's Chinese production facility has been awarded production authority for the DA40-TDI, Diamond's four-place, single-engine piston aircraft. The approval, based on the quality procedures in place at Diamond's European manufacturing facility in Austria, was awarded by EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and authorizes the production of Diamond DA40-TDI aircraft, including complete composite airframes. The purpose-built 400,000 square-foot Binzhou facility is designed to produce up to 1,000 aircraft per year and will deliver 80 Garmin G1000-equipped DA40-TDIs in 2008, for the Asian market, as it ramps up to full production.
With manufacturing facilities in Europe (Wiener Neustadt, Austria), North America (London, Ontario Canada) and in China, Diamond Aircraft is a global corporation and leading manufacturer of modern general aviation aircraft.